Jean-Michel Basquiat painting sells for record $110.5M at New York auction
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This undated image shows Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1982 painting 'Untitled,' which fetched $110.5 million at auction Thursday, May 18, 2017 (Sotheby's)
An artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for a record $110.5 million at auction in New York.
Sotheby's said the sale of "Untitled" Thursday night in Manhattan was an auction record for the artist. It also set a record price for an American artist at auction. The 1982 painting depicts a face in the shape of a skull.
The piece was purchased by noted Japanese collector and entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa after a 10-minute bidding war. He says he plans to eventually display the painting in his museum in Chiba, Japan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The previous auction record for the artist was set last May when "Untitled, 1982" sold for $57.3 million, also to Maezawa.
Basquiat died of a drug overdose in 1988 at age 27.